


End of the Road

by Glory_Jean



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canonical Character Death, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-31
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-08 05:01:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1927563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glory_Jean/pseuds/Glory_Jean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Doctor decides to take Rose on a trip down memory lane trouble follows.</p><p> Gridlock Remixed with Rose Tyler</p><p>A collaboration of <span class="ljuser i-ljuser i-ljuser-type-P"></span><a class="i-ljuser-profile" href="http://glory-jean.livejournal.com/profile"><img class="i-ljuser-userhead"/></a><a class="i-ljuser-username" href="http://glory-jean.livejournal.com/"><b>glory_jean</b></a>  &  <span class="ljuser i-ljuser i-ljuser-type-P"></span><a class="i-ljuser-profile" href="http://achuislemochroi.livejournal.com/profile"><img class="i-ljuser-userhead"/></a><a class="i-ljuser-username" href="http://achuislemochroi.livejournal.com/"><b>achuislemochroi</b></a>  from  a concept  by <span class="ljuser i-ljuser i-ljuser-type-P"></span><a class="i-ljuser-profile" href="http://2cbetter2.livejournal.com/profile"><img class="i-ljuser-userhead"/></a><a class="i-ljuser-username" href="http://2cbetter2.livejournal.com/"></a><b>2cbetter2</b><br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally part of a multi-author effort to rewrite S3 with Rose. Elements of the story are intended to follow and foreshadow the AU canon of that verse. Unfortunately due to a number a circumstances this was the last posted fic. The earlier episode rewrites may be found [here](dr-2nd-chances.livejournal.com).
> 
> A huge thank you to [](http://alizarin-skies.livejournal.com/profile)[**alizarin_skies**](http://alizarin-skies.livejournal.com/) for the beautiful banner and icon and to [](http://mrs-roy.livejournal.com/profile)[**mrs_roy**](http://mrs-roy.livejournal.com/) for roping us into writing this. ;) Gridlock dialog referenced from [Doctor who transcripts 2005+ ](http://who-transcripts.atspace.com/2007/transcripts/303_gridlock.html)

 

 

 

“Good morning.”

Rose makes her way around the console to join the Doctor, and he smiles up at her.

“Good morning.” Looking back at the console, he punches a few more buttons for effect. “So ... anywhere – or _anywhen_ – you fancy going today?”

She watches him work his magic for a few moments, considering, before she speaks.

"Can we go to your planet?"

In that instant, she knows she’s said the wrong thing as she sees the Doctor stop what he is doing, freezing in place almost, and his shoulders droop as he leans over the console like she has physically struck him.

Concerned by the sudden change in him, she continues speaking, her words piling out on top of each other fast and hasty as she clarifies her request. She wants him to know that she’s not as insensitive as she’s just made herself sound.

"I know you said your planet burned and all, that your people are dead; but I thought since _this_ ," she says, patting the console as emphasis, "is a time machine, we could go back before all that happened to them ...?"

At this the Doctor is in motion again, all arms and legs and graceful movement around the console, and as she watches him she thinks that somebody seeing him now who didn’t know him would never have known anything had bothered him.

"Ah,” he cries, “but why would we want to go _there_ , when there are so many other places in the universe I wanted to show you first?" She thinks the disappointment she feels is clear in her expression, because he continues. "Oh, maybe we'll go visit one day, but not today."

Something doesn’t feel right; she knows this because she knows _him_ , but she can’t yet identify what. So she studies his face for a few moments before, still concerned for him, she slides alongside him to take his hand.

“All right. One day, then. But tell me, though – what was it like?”

Again, for a moment, there’s that frozen silence. His expression is unreadable.

“Was it like some of those places we’ve been to? Towers, and cathedrals, and all that?”

She tries not to flinch as his eyes move away from her to focus on a point over her head. For a long moment, she thinks he isn’t going to answer ... and then she feels his hand tighten around hers, and he begins to speak.

“The sky's a burnt orange.” His voice is soft, matching the far-away look she sees in his eyes. “With the Citadel enclosed in a mighty glass dome, shining under the twin suns. Beyond that, the mountains go on for ever – slopes of deep red grass, capped with snow.”

He falls silent, then; she holds her breath, afraid to speak and hoping he’ll say more. But his mood changes and he’s moving again, hands seeming to blur over the controls.

“I know exactly where to take you!” he exclaims, grinning at her and his eyes dancing with excitement. “This is _much_ better. Here we go, then!"

She sees him press a button, and the TARDIS suddenly shifts; both of them need to grab at the console to keep themselves upright.

They land soon afterwards. Letting go of the console, it doesn’t take Rose long to ask the obvious question.

"So, where are we?"

“Let’s see if you can guess.” The Doctor throws her a mischievous grin. “Year five billion and fifty-three, fifty thousand light years from planet Earth! Second hope of mankind! One of the most dazzling cities ever built. ‘So good they named it twice.’“

“New New York!” she exclaims. This is a first for him, bringing her back somewhere they’d been to before. “What’s going on this time?”

Shrugging himself in to his long coat, the Doctor extends his hand towards her.

"I don't know. It's a surprise. Come on!”

Hand in hand, the two of them run out of the TARDIS into the pouring rain; Rose gasps a little as the shock of the cold water hits her. Shivering, she pulls her jacket closer around her.

“Come on, Rose; a bit of rain never hurt anyone! Let’s find some cover.”

@}-,-‘-

In a dark, long-forgotten room near the Senate are a restless single cat nun and, still in his large tank, the Face of Boe. Evidence of cannibalised technology is everywhere around them: loops of cabling lead from screens and consoles that quite clearly began existence as something else.

The Face of Boe speaks.

“He has arrived.”

“What should I do?”

“Find him. Before it's too late.”

-‘-,-{@

The Doctor and Rose find themselves in a grey and somewhat grimy street that’s littered with junk and filled with a number of what appear to be some kind of large green bins. Rose is first to speak.

“This doesn’t look much like New Earth to me. Are you sure you got the date right, Doctor? ... Or the planet, for that matter?”

“Oi, Rose Tyler, that’s rude! And for your information I’m perfectly sure about both time _and_ pla— Hold on!”

Interrupting himself, he moves to an inactive screen on the wall and quickly runs his sonic screwdriver over it. There is a hiss of static and the Doctor pounds on the top of it with his fist. The image of a woman slowly appears.

“– and the driving should be clear and easy,” the woman is saying, “with fifteen extra lanes open for the New New Jersey expressway.”

The two of them watch as the screen changes to show the spires of New New York towering over a body of water with flying cars speeding around it.

The Doctor turns to Rose.

“Ha, _ha_!” he says, his voice smug. “You see? This must be the lower levels. Down in the base of the tower, some sort of under-city.”

Rose knows she should be annoyed by his gloating, but something about his glee is infectious and she can’t hold back a smile.

“So; change of scenery, this time?”

His smile broadens in return.

“And why not? Much more interesting! It's all cocktails and glitter up there. This is the _real_ city.”

“All right, then,” she says, humouring him as she rubs her hands over her damp sleeves, trying to keep warm. “Where to now? At least the rain’s stopping.”

“Yup! Just gets better and better!”

A crash behind them makes them jump; turning, they see that what they had thought were bins are in reality street vendor’s carts.

The man in the cart nearest to them leans out and looks at them.

“Oh! You should have _said_. How long you been there? Happy! You want Happy!”

His cry is echoed by the other vendors:

“We're in business! Mother, open up the Mellow, and the Read!”

“Anger! Buy some Anger!”

“Get some Mellow, makes you feel all bendy and soft all day long!”

The man who had been first to speak looks disapprovingly at the others.

“Younger, them,” he says, his tone confiding. “They'll rip you off. Do you want some Happy?”

The Doctor frowns deeply.

“No, thanks.” At Rose’s questioning look, he explains. “They are selling moods.”

Before he can elaborate, they see a pale, slight woman enter the alley. Ignoring the cries of the vendors, she’s focussed on one in particular.

“I want to buy Forget.” There’s a melancholy tone to her voice, dull and defeated.

“I've got Forget, my darling,” the vendor assures her. “What strength? How much you want forgetting?

“It's my mother and father. They went on the motorway.”

“Oh, that's so sweet.”

The transaction is made, and the sad woman moves away with a small disk in her hand. The Doctor intercepts her.

“Sorry, but – hold on a minute. What happened to your parents?”

“They drove off.”

Rose tries to reassure her.

“But they’ll be back soon, yeah?”

The woman turns her eyes to Rose; the sadness in them appearing to go fathoms deep. Whatever has happened to her parents, Rose knows instinctively, it isn’t good.

“Everyone goes to the motorway, in the end. I've lost them.”

“But they can't have gone far,” the Doctor protests. “You could find them!”

The woman looks thoughtfully at them both for a moment; then, before they can say a word, she presses the disk to her neck and immediately her expression changes. She looks innocent and happy, but unfocused.

“I'm sorry, what were you saying?”

The Doctor is grim.

“Your parents. _Your mother and father_. They're on the motorway.”

“Are they? That's nice.”

Every scrap of her previous unhappiness has been wiped from her voice – as is, as Rose slowly realises, all recollection of what she’s lost.

Rose looks from the woman to the Doctor and back again, horror clear in her expression.

“But you said— You can’t—”

Rose reaches towards the stranger, but the Doctor catches her hand and shakes his head.

The woman wanders off.

“You can’t help her, Rose. That’s the chemical talking now.”

Rose lets go of his hand and walks a few steps further, unwilling to let it go quite so easily, before she turns towards him, tearful and fighting to comprehend what she’s just seen.

“What’s going on? Was it always like this, Doctor, and we just didn’t see?”

He’s quiet for a few seconds, trying to find something he can say to comfort her, when a man and a woman, both wearing dark clothes and holding guns, appear out of nowhere behind Rose. The man grabs her from behind, pressing his arm to her throat to stop her from crying out as he drags her away. The Doctor automatically moves to stop him, but the woman steps in front of him, pointing the gun at his face.

The man shouts over to him.

“I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. We just need three, that's all.”

The Doctor is beside himself.

“No! Let her go! I’m warning you, let her go!” He can hear the desperation in his voice as he pleads with them. “Whatever you want, I can help. Both of us, we can help. But first you’ve got to let her go!”

“I’m sorry; I’m really sorry. Sorry.” The woman, this time, and despite the complete insanity of the situation he hears the tears clearly in her voice and wonders at them.

Rose struggles hard, but caught off guard and off balance she is pulled away from the Doctor in an instant. The three of them vanish through a large green door that slams shut behind them. The Doctor shouts out in frustrated anguish and begins to fight with the door, trying to open it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Betas:** [milieva](http://milieva.livejournal.com/) & [ladymalchav](http://ladymalchav.livejournal.com/)
> 
>  
> 
> Yes, it takes a village to write a fic. A huge thank you to Alizarin_Skies for the beautiful banner and icon and to Mrs_Roy for roping us into writing this. ;) Gridlock dialog referenced from [Doctor who transcripts 2005+ ](http://who-transcripts.atspace.com/2007/transcripts/303_gridlock.html)

 

 

Rose finds herself pulled through a dimly-lit corridor. 

She blinks, then, surprised to see light as her captors - the man clinging tightly to her arm, the woman still pointing the gun at her - pull her from the corridor to what at first glance appears to be a sort of emergency exit. At last, she finds her voice.

“You need to stop this. You don’t seem like bad people. Whatever is wrong, the Doctor and I can help. It’s what we do."

Her captors exchange a look but say nothing as they push her toward a black flying aircar. Rose thinks fast trying to find a way to keep them there until the Doctor can catch up.

“Give her some Sleep,” the man then says.

“Stop, _please_. Just talk to me.”

“It's just Sleep Fourteen,” the woman says, as if that means something, and before Rose can say anything more she feels one of the discs she’d seen on the vendors’ carts being pressed to her neck. 

Struggling against them even as she feels her limbs growing heavy and her vision fading, Rose’s mind fights on even as her body succumbs; she calls out fruitlessly for the Doctor to stop this. A gentle jostling as she is moved elsewhere is the last thing she feels before blacking out.

@}-,-‘-

A combination of brute force and sonic screwdriver ( _see, Rose; told you I could resonate concrete_ ) finally allows the Doctor through the door and he races after Rose and her kidnappers. He runs as fast as he’s capable, but even as he hurtles through the space he knows he is too slow. This trip was supposed to be safe and distracting. They both needed distance from their last misadventure. He shudders at the thought; if he never saw her possessed with vortex-energy again, it would be too soon. He firmly refuses to listen to his conscience, the tiny voice of conscience telling him he was just avoiding talking about his home planet with Rose, because it was silly. He isn’t avoiding anything.

He came to the end of the corridor just in time to see an aircar roaring to life and lifting off from its platform. _Damn, too late._

“Rose!” he bellowed uselessly at the departing vehicle.

-‘-,-{@

“Thought you'd come back! Do you want some happy, Happy?” a pharmacist chirps as the Doctor returns to the carts.

The Doctor scowls darkly at him. “Those people – who were they? Where did they take her?”

His tone doesn't invite confidences. One of the vendors eventually pipes up. “They've taken her to the motorway. Looked like carjackers to me.”

“I’d give up now, darling. You won’t see her again.”

The Doctor turns a look of thunder at the source of this unwelcome information, but the voice continues. “Used to be thriving in this place. You couldn't move. But they all go to the motorway in the end.”

His teeth gritted as he fights for control of himself, anger barely suppressed, the Doctor spins from one seller to another. 

“He kept on saying three; _”we need three”_. What did he mean, three?”

“It's the car-sharing policy, to save fuel. You get special access if you're carrying three adults.”

“This motorway,” he demands. “How do I get there?”

“Straight down the alley, keep going to the end. You can't miss it.”

He moves to head in that direction, when one of the vendors makes the mistake of trying one last to time to sell him something. He strides back, fury unleashed at last. 

“Word of advice, all of you,” he says tightly, voice almost a shout. “Cash up. Close down. And pack your bags. Because as soon as I've found her, alive and well – and I _will_ find her, alive and well – then I'm coming back. And this street is closing. _Tonight_!”

@}-,-‘-

Rose blinks her eyes open slowly, both mind and body feeling oddly sluggish thanks to the remnants of the drug in her system. She finds herself in a bunk at the rear of a cramped space; silhouetted against a window are two figures. It looks like they are in some kind of vehicle. Rose reaches sleepily for the plastic circle still stuck to her neck; finding it, she pulls it off, frowning as she does. She throws it away from her, all the time wondering what her next move should be. Perhaps, she thought, she should try the Doctor’s tactic: playing along until she finds out what’s going on.

A man’s voice says, “The houses are made of wood. There are jobs going in the foundries. Everyone says so!”

A woman adds, “The sky … They say the air smells like apple grass. Can you imagine?”

Rose thinks for a minute then sits up.   
“It does.”

The two figures jump at her voice.

“What?” The woman asks carefully.

“The air - it does smell of apple grass. It’s lovely. And the city is beautiful.”

The couple exchange a glance. 

“You’ve been there?”

“Yup!” Rose says brightly, only just refraining from popping the “p.”

The woman recovers first, smiling hesitantly. “What's your name?”

“Rose.” She stands up cautiously and makes her way to the front of the vehicle.

“Well, I'm Cheen, and this is Milo. And I swear we're sorry. We're really, really sorry. We just needed access to the fast line, but I promise, as soon as we arrive, we'll drop you off and you can go back and find your friend.”

Rose just looks at her. “Really?”

“I swear! Look –, “Cheen pushes aside her hair and tapped the disk on her neck. “Honesty 36” is imprinted on it. “Honesty patch.”

Even she isn’t stupid enough to question why somebody might need an Honesty patch. She certainly isn’t ready, though, to take their word as gospel quite yet. 

“If you needed help, couldn’t you have just asked for it? That what’s the Doctor and I do.”

She pauses a moment, frowning at the dark swirling haze outside the car. “That’s some strange looking fog. Where are we anyway?”

“We're on the motorway,” Cheen answers. “And that not fog. That's the exhaust fumes.”

“We're going out to Brooklyn,” Milo adds. “Everyone says the air's so much cleaner, and we couldn't stay in Pharmacy Town, 'cause …” He trailed off grinning at Cheen and reaching over to rub her knee.

Cheen grins up at Rose. “Well, 'cause of me. I'm pregnant. We only discovered it last week. Scan says it's going to be a boy.”

Rose smiles slightly at their enthusiasm. “I’m happy for you but it doesn’t make kidnapping me right.”

“This'll be as fast as we can,” Milo assures her. “We'll take the motorway to the Brooklyn flyover, and then after that it's gonna take awhile, 'cause then there's no fast lane, just ordinary roads, but at least it's direct.”

“It's only ten miles,” Cheen adds. “We’ll be just in time for him to start school.”

Rose gives them a puzzled look.

“Well it will still take about six years.”

“What?” Rose thunders. “Six _years_? How could it possibly take six years to go ten miles?”

-‘-,-{@

Striding through the shabby corridors, the Doctor keeps moving until he reaches one marked “Motorway Access.” He uses his sonic on the door and the lock releases with a satisfying clank. He steps through and on to a platform and as his eyes adjust to the darkness he notices that, hovering both above and below the platform are row on row of cars. The air is choked with a thick hazy smoke and the Doctor begins to cough. He looks around stunned, brain already trying to figure out a plan for how he will find Rose in this endless sea of vehicles. A car hovers directly in front of the platform. The Doctor ignores it until the door opens and a figure beckons him inside.

“Hey! You daft little street strut!” He calls. “What are you doing, standing there? Either get out or get in! Come on!”

As a fit of coughing seizes him, the Doctor walks into the car. 

“Did you ever see the like?” his rescuer asks someone inside.

A dark-haired woman rushes to the Doctor, nods, and helps place an oxygen mask on him. He breathes in deeply, watching the two of them.

“Just standing there, breathing it in!” His rescuer continues. He removes the scarf and goggles that had concealed his face and the Doctor releases he is a cat just like the nuns he had met all those years (well, relatively speaking) before. 

The man tosses the gear aside and sits down in the driver’s seat. “There's this story says back in the old days, on Junction Forty-Seven, this woman stood in the exhaust fumes for a solid twenty minutes. By the time they found her, her head had swollen to fifty feet!”

“Oh, you're making it up,” the woman declares.

“A fifty-foot head!” he continues as if she hadn’t spoken. “Just think of it. Imagine picking that nose.”

“Stop it. That's disgusting,” she complains.

“What? Did you never pick your nose?”

Instead of responding to that she taps him on the arm and says urgently, “Bran, we're moving!”

“Right. I'm there. I'm on it.” With some quick moments of the levers, the car lurches forward a bit and then stops again. “Twenty yards! We're having a good day.”

The Doctor puts aside the oxygen mask as they finally turn to address him. 

“And who might you be, sir?” The cat asks him. “Very well-dressed for a hitchhiker.”

“Thanks. Sorry, I'm the Doctor.”

“Medical man! Ha-ha! My name's Thomas Kincade Brannigan, and this is the bane of my life, the lovely Valerie.”

Valerie smiles. “Nice to meet you.”

“And that's the rest of the family behind you.” Brannigan gestures to the curtain behind them.

The Doctor pushes the curtain aside to find a basket of tiny mewling kittens. 

“Aw, that's nice. Hello.” He lifts a tiny black cat into his arms. “How old are they?”

“Just two months,” Valerie responded. 

The kitten fusses a bit in the Doctor’s hands and he automatically shifts his hold and rubbed her head until she calmed.

“You do that well,” Valerie comments. “You have any children?”

The Doctor dropped his eyes and murmured a soft _no._

Perhaps sensing that this was not something his guest wanted to discuss, Brannigan quickly changes the subject. “These poor little souls have never known the ground beneath their paws.”

The Doctor raises his head and looks at him, confused.

“Children of the motorway. We couldn't stop. We heard there were jobs going, out in the laundries on Fire Island. Thought we'd take a chance.”

The Doctor stares. “What, they were born in here? You've been driving for two months?”

Brannigan scoffs. “Do I look like a teenager? We've been driving for twelve years now.”

Stunned, the Doctor looks from one of them to the other. “I'm sorry?”

“Yeah! Started out as newlyweds! Feels like yesterday.”

“Feels like twelve years to me,” Valerie says, with a tired sigh.

“Ah, sweetheart, but you're still lovely.” 

“Twelve years?” the Doctor exclaims. “How far did you come? Where did you start?”

“Battery Park. It's five miles back.” 

“You travelled five miles in twelve years?” the Doctor demands incredulously.

“I think he's a bit slow,” Brannigan murmurs to his wife.

The Doctor turns and places the kitten back with the others and moves back toward the door.

“Where are you from?” Valerie asks.

“Never mind that,” he responds impatiently, “I've got to get out. My friend's in one of these cars. She was taken hostage. I should get back to the TARDIS.” He yanked open the door but the walkway he came in on was nowhere in sight. He squinted into the smoke with a sinking feeling.

“You're too late for that,” Brannigan comments. “We've passed the lay-by.”

Coughing once more from the exhaust fumes, the Doctor pulls the door closed. 

“You're a passenger now, Sonny Jim!”

“When's the next lay-by?” the Doctor asks quickly.

“Oh … six months?”

@}-,-‘-

Rose stares sulkily at the rows and rows of identical angular vehicles hang in the air in front of them. Their headlights highlighting the billowing exhaust in the darkness, the blaring of their horns and engine hum filling her ears. She knows she’s acting a little childishly at the moment, but she is beyond frustrated. No matter how she challenges them they assure her there is no way to let her out of the car, seemingly completely baffled by her insistence that a trip that short should not take months.

Rose squints at the scene outside. The cars seemed to go on forever.

“How many cars are out there? “she questions, finally breaking her stony silence.

“I don't think anyone knows,” Cheen murmurs. 

“And where is this fast lane?”

“Oh, it's right at the bottom,” Milo responds, “underneath the traffic jam. But not many people can afford three passengers, so it's empty down there. Rumour has it you can reach up to thirty miles per hour.”

“Right, lovely,” Rose mutters flatly. “Sounds like my idea of a party, stuck in a box for months on end.”

“It’s not that bad,” Cheen tries to reassure her. “We’re all we stocked up. Got self-replicating fuel, muscle stimulants for exercise, and there's a chemical toilet at the back. And all waste products are recycled as food.”

Rose makes a face but doesn’t comment.

Milo hoots as a space opens up in front of them and the car moves another few feet. Rose is sure she will go stir crazy after another five minutes of this, let alone the time frame they are discussing. The Doctor is evidently rubbing off on her. She can see him trying to bounce around impatiently in the narrow space if he had been the one kidnapped instead.

A computerized voice speaks suddenly from the console. “Car sign in.”

“Car Four Six Five Diamond Six, on descent to fast lane, thank you very much.” Milo says into the mic.

“Please drive safely,” the computer purrs.

-‘-,-{@

The vehicle’s screen displays insignia of the New New York Police Department, but the system stubbornly refuses to connect the call. The Doctor buzzes his sonic at the screen and tries one more time.

“I need to talk to the police,” he says into the transmitter.

The unhelpful computer voice responds.,  
“Thank you for your call. You have been placed on hold.” 

As if he needed the extra confirmation, the same words scroll onto the screen.

“But you're the police!” he protests pointlessly as the voice repeats the message.

“Is there anyone else?” The Doctor questions his hosts not even trying to mask his frustration. “I once met the Duke of Manhattan; is there any way of getting through to him?”

“Oh, now,” Brannigan says a little mockingly, “ain't you lordly?”

“I've got to find Rose!” 

“You can't make outside calls,” Valerie tells him sadly. “The motorway's completely enclosed.”

“What about the other cars?”

“Oh, we've got contact with them, yeah. Well, some of them, anyway. They've got to be on your friends list. Now, let's see – who's nearby? Ah! The Cassinis!” Brannigan reaches for the transmitter and connects a call. “Still your hearts, my handsome girls. It's Brannigan here.”

An irritated female voice comes over the speaker, “Get off the line, Brannigan. You're a pest and a menace.”

“Oh, come on, now,” Brannigan cajoles, “is that any way to talk to an old friend? I've got a hitchhiker here, calls himself the Doctor.”

The Doctor impatiently grabs for the transmitter as Brannigan hands it over. 

“Hello. Sorry. I'm looking for someone called Rose Tyler. She's been carjacked. She's inside one of these vehicles, but I don't know which one.”

Another woman comes on the line. “Could I ask, what entrance did they use?”

At the Doctor’s frustrated expression Brannigan calls into the transmitter, “Pharmacy Town.”

“About twenty minutes ago,” the Doctor adds, casting a grateful glance at Brannigan. 

After a moment the women comes back on the line. “In the last half hour, fifty-three new cars joined from the Pharmacy Town junction.”

_Fifty-three_? A shiver goes down the Doctor’s spine; this is _not_ good news. “Anything more specific?” 

“All in good time. Was she car-jacked by two people?”

“Yes, she was, yeah.” The Doctor bristles with impatience, feeling as though Rose is moving farther away every second. He knows that the amount of traffic makes this unlikely, but he can’t stop anxiety from creeping in. 

“There we are. Just one of those cars was destined for the fast lane. That means they had three on board. And car number is four six five diamond six.”

He wishes he could hug the owner of the voice. “That's it! So how do we find them?”

“Ah,” she responds regretfully. “Now, there I'm afraid I can't help.”

The Doctor quickly turns to Brannigan. “Then we call them on this thing,” he waves the transmitter. “We've got their number. Diamond six.”

He feels Valerie’s hand on his arm. 

“We can’t,” she says gently. “They are designated fast lane. It's a different class.” 

He meets her eyes and almost can’t take the look of pitying sympathy he sees there.

@}-,-‘-

Rose watches silently as they drop through row after row of cars on their way to the “fast lane.” She allows herself a moment to picture stepping out this car six years from now and beginning an imaginary journey to locate the Doctor. Where would she start? She’d seen precious little of New New York last time, but she knew it was _big_.

A sudden low, rumbling sound disturbs her rather morbid thoughts. Reminiscent, she thinks, of aged metal machinery groaning in disrepair. Or else something large ... _growling_.

“Do you hear that?” Rose asks as the sound comes again.

“It does have noise, doesn't it?” Cheen says to herself more than Rose. “It's like Kate said. The stories are true.”

Rose’s eyes widen. Oh, this is trouble. “Stories?”

Milo cuts in brusquely before Cheen can answer. “It's the sound of the air vents. That's all. The exhaust fumes travel down, so at the base of the tunnel they've got air vents.”

Cheen twists her body to face Rose. “No, the stories are much better,” she says with a hint of excitement.

“Go on then,” Rose encourages. 

Nearby Milo sniggers a little.

“They say people go missing on the motorway. Some cars just vanish, never to be seen again. 'Cause there's something living down there, in the smoke. Something huge. And hungry. And if you get lost on the road … it's waiting for you.”

The noise continues to grow in volume as the car descends. They cast nervous looks at each other and Rose feels a shiver of fear run down her spine.

“Like I said. Air vents,” Milo says defensively.

“Air vents,” Rose muses. “And air vents do what? Let in the air? Clear the exhaust?”

Milo frowns at her.

“Doesn’t look like a lot of air venting happening out there,” Rose finishes, undaunted.

Cheen swallows hard. “No, it doesn’t.”

They all listen to sounds for a moment.

“So what _is_ that, then?” Rose asks.

Milo swallows and shakes his head. “Nah. Kid stuff.” He speaks into the transmitter, “Car Four Six Five Diamond Six, on descent.”

@}-,-‘-

“We've got to go to the fast lane,” the Doctor breathes. “Take me down.”

“Not a million years!” 

“You've got three passengers!”

“I'm still not going.”

“You have to. Rose is alone, and she's lost.” Both men choose not to acknowledge the way his voice cracks on Rose’s name. “She doesn't belong on this planet, she belongs with me. I'm asking you, Brannigan," and a pleading note enters his voice “– take me down.”

“That's a no,” Valerie says firmly. “And that's final. I'm not risking the children down there.”

“Risk?” Despite himself, despite his growing fear for Rose, the Doctor finds his interest piqued. “What risk? What happens down there?” he demands.

But Valerie is unmoved. “We're not discussing it! The conversation is closed!”

“So, what, we keep on driving?” He’s having a hard time reining in his frustration, and some of it leaks into his voice. “For how long?”

“'Til the journey's end,” Brannigan murmurs.

The Doctor, angry, snatches up the transmitter. 

“Mrs. Cassini, this is the Doctor. Tell me, how long have you been driving on the motorway?”

“Oh, we were amongst the first,” comes the response. “It's been twenty-three years now.”

“And in all that time, have you ever seen a police car?” 

There is an uncomfortable pause.

“I'm not sure.”

“Look at your notes,” the Doctor presses, unable and unwilling to keep frustration, or a rapidly developing anger, out of his voice any longer. “Any police? Or an ambulance? Rescue service? Anything official? Ever?”

“Not as such.” The admission’s a reluctant one, and almost apologetic. “I can't keep a note of everything.”

The Doctor feels a cold triumph and he moves in, making his point for them all. “What if there's no one out there?”

Brannigan takes the transmitter from the Doctor’s hand. 

“Stop it." There's anger in his voice, but there's uncertainty beneath the anger. "The Cassinis were doing you a favour.”

“Someone's got to ask,” the Doctor continues, unrepentant. “‘Cause you might not talk about it, but it's there. In your eyes. What if the traffic jam never stops?”

“There's a whole city above us,” Brannigan counters. “The mighty city-state of New New York. They wouldn't just leave us.”

“In that case, where are they, hmm?” he questions, pushing the issue. "What if there's no help coming, not ever? What if there's nothing? Just the motorway, with the cars going round and round and round, never stopping? For ever?”

“Shut up! Just shut up!” Valerie’s shout sounds uncomfortably close to hysteria.

Suddenly the car’s console screen flickers and the image of Sally Calypso fills the screen.

“This is Sally Calypso, and it's that time again. The sun is blazing high in the sky over the New Atlantic, the perfect setting for the daily contemplation.”

“You think you know us so well, Doctor,” Brannigan says, scorn in his voice, "but we're not abandoned. Not while we have each other.”

He and the Doctor stare at each other and the Doctor is distantly aware of Sally Calypso’s next words.

“This is for all of you out there on the roads. We're so sorry. Drive safe.”

Music begins to filter into the car and Brannigan turns in his seat, looking towards his wife as they both begin to sing. The Doctor can only watch in amazement as the people of the motorway join in song.

-‘-,-{@

Rose sits in silence as Milo and Cheen sing along to an old hymn she remembered vaguely from school.

> _On a hill, far away_  
>  Stood an old, rugged cross  
> The emblem of suffering and shame  
> And I love that old cross  
> Where the dearest and best  
> For a world of lost sinners was slain 

Over the car’s radio, she can hear the combined voices of the drivers, rising into unison. Feeling for a moment part of the largest congregation imaginable, Rose finds herself drawn in by the vaguely familiar tune, simultaneously soothed and awed by the quiet passion in the mass of voices.

> _So I'll cherish the old, rugged cross, rugged cross_  
>  Till my trophies at last I lay down, I lay down  
> I will cling to the old, rugged cross, rugged cross  
> And exchange it someday for a crown. 

As the hymn ends, the computer voice smashes the mood. “Fast lane access, please drive safely.”

“We made it,” Milo breathes. ”The fast lane.”

@}-,-‘-

The Doctor feels a rush of determination fill him as the song ends. He decides to act.

“If you won't take me, I'll go down on my own.”

He moves to the centre of the car, seeing what he needs there.

“What do you think you're doing?” Brannigan demands.

“Finding my own way. I usually do.” 

He aims his sonic at the access hatch in the floor and the latch pops open. Pulling up the hatch, he stares down at the seemingly unending layers of aircars below. 

“Here we go,” he murmurs as a car moves forward. As it stills, suspended directly beneath them, he fixes his gaze on it. He pulls off his coat and throws it to Valerie. “Look after this.” He casts a longing glance at his coat. “I love that coat. Janis Joplin gave me that coat.”

“But you can't jump!” Valerie protests.

“If it's any consolation, Valerie, right now, _I'm_ having kittens.”

“This Rose – she must mean an awful lot to you,” Brannigan says, awed.

The Doctor meets his eyes for a moment and an understanding passes between them.

“She’s everything.”

A beat of silence; then he flashes a manic grin at Brannigan. 

And he jumps.


	3. Chapter 3

 

The Doctor lands with a thud on the car below and lets himself crumple into a crouch to absorb the shock of impact. Well, that was easier than it looked, he thinks. Then he inhales a lungful of fumes and begin to choke again. He pulls out the sonic once more and works on the top hatch of the car he is currently kneeling on. From above, Valerie and Brannigan’s voices drift down to him.

“He's completely insane!” Valerie exclaimes

“That, and a bit magnificent!” Brannigan agrees.

Magnificent? The Doctor grins. He can live with that.

@}-,-‘-

Rose looks on as her dejected kidnappers listen to the computer in dismay as it announces exit after exit is closed.

“What do we do?” Cheen moans.

“We'll keep going round. We'll do the whole loop. By the time we come back round, they'll be open.” Milo says with false optimism  
.  
Down below, the ominous rumbling comes again. Rose looks from one panicked face to another.

“Listen, I’ve been traveling with the Doctor for a long time now. I’ve seen a lot things. And I’m telling you there’s no way that’s air vents.”

“What else could it be?” Milo argues, his voice high with stress, “It's just – the hydraulics.”

The noise returns, a low rumbling roar.

Rose shivers. “Don’t know about you, but that sounds like something’s living down there.”

“It's all exhaust fumes out there. What could breathe in that?”

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” Rose mutters.

A crackling voice on the intercom startles them. “Calling Car Four Six Five Diamond Six. Repeat, calling Car Four Six Five Diamond Six.”

“This is Car Four Six Five Diamond Six. Who's that? Where are you?”

“I'm in the fast lane,” the voice responds, “about fifty yards behind. Can you get back up? Can you get off the fast lane?”

“We only have permission to go down. We – we need the Brooklyn Flyover,” Milo complains.

“It's closed. Go back up.”

“We can't. We'll just go round.”

“Don't you understand?” the voice exclaims. “They're closed. They're always closed.”

Beside Rose, Cheen starts to panic.  
.  
“We're stuck down here. And there's something else. Out there, in the fog. Can't you hear it?”

The roaring noise becomes louder and more ominous.

“That's the air vents.” Milo says weakly.

“Jehovah! What are you, some stupid kid? Get out of here!” 

The voice breaks off in a scream as a pounding noise comes from the intercom. Outside the roars grow louder. 

Rose grabs the intercom. “What’s happening? Tell us where you are so we can help you..”

“I can't move! They've got us!” the panicked women responds. ”Just drive, you idiots! Get out of here! Get out!”

“Can you get free? Can you try? Don’t give up!”

But the only response she gets is the sound of screams and people calling to each other. The noise of over the intercom drowns out their words. Then all is silent. Milo stares quietly at the smoke. Rose swats his head to wake him up.

“Let’s go! Drive. Do what she said – get us out of here!”

“But where?”

“Anywhere! Just go now! We can’t stay here, hurry!”

-‘-,-{@

The Doctor opens the top and bottom access hatches of car after car, descending through the rows, layer after. He waves at the frightened occupants calming them with the pretence of being “Motorway Foot Patrol” there to take a survey. Each time he reenters the fume-choked motorway, his eyes burn a little more and his lungs seize up, respiratory bypass or no. His hastily commandeered handkerchief only helps slightly. 

At last he opens the car on what appears the be the last layer. It is occupied by professional looking man in a suit wearing a bowler hat. The man whirls and regards him incredulously. 

“'Scuse me, is that legal?” the man asks. 

“Sorry, Motorway Foot Patrol,” the Doctor begins but his explanation is cut off by a gasping cough. “Whatever. Have you got any water?”

“Certainly. Never let it be said I've lost my manners.”

“Is this the last layer?” the Doctor asks once he has downed the water and caught his breath.

The man nods. “We're right at the bottom. Nothing below us but the fast lane.”

“Can we drive down?”

“There's only two of us. You need three to go down.”

The Doctor pouts a little. “Oh. Couldn't we just cheat?”

“Well, I'd love to, but it's an automated system. The wheel would lock.”

“Hmm. If you'll excuse me.” The Doctor runs over to the lower hatch and sonics it open. 

“You can't jump. It's a thousand feet down!”

“No, I just want to look,” he assures the man.

Far below in the dark, swirling fog, tiny lights are visible and off in the distance the Doctor hears a muffled roar. 

The Doctor squints against the gloom. “What are those lights?” He asks no one in particular, “What's that noise? What's down there?”

Nearby, the car’s owner blanches. “I try not to think about it.”

The groans in frustration and waves a hand in front of him as though he can sweep away the fumes. “I just need to _see_ ,” he grumbles, coughing as the exhaust once again enters his lungs. 

He goes to the front of the car.

“There must be some sort of ventilation. If I could just transmit a pulse through this thing, maybe I could trip the system, give us a bit of a breeze.” After a moment of fiddling the Doctor crows happily. “That's it! Might shift the fumes a bit, give us a good look.”

They both return to the hatch and stare below. The murky smoke begins to thin and large moving shapes slowly appear. After another moment they can see huge claws snapping threateningly. The lights are the glowing eyes of giant crabs. 

The man gasps in horror. “What the hell are they?”

The Doctor feels a cold dread seep through him. “Macra.”

@}-,-‘-

In the other car, Rose, Cheen and Milo are holding on tight as it pitches and jumps. Every lurch seems to spawn an echoing lurch in Rose’s stomach. She clamps her mouth shut and breathes deeply through her nose like the Doctor taught her. It would not be advisable to be sick in such an enclosed space. Rose rolls her eyes at her own weakness. She’d think after all of the Doctor’s dodgy landings she’d be more used to this sort of thing.

“Go faster!” Cheen yells.

“I'm at top speed!” 

In front of Milo, the screen reads “PROXIMITY WARNING" and a computerized voice is warning, “No access above.” 

“But this is an emergency!” Milo shouts into the radio. 

A police logo appears on the screen. “Thank you for your call. You have been placed on hold.”

“Hang on, if we can’t see them in all this, how are they finding us?” Rose realises suddenly. “It’s like those films. They can sense the heat or just hearing the engines is enough.”

The car shakes under another blow.

“We’ve got to hide. You’ve got to pull over and shut everything off.” 

Milo looks at her, stunned. “You've got to be joking.”

“The other car couldn’t outrun them, what makes you think we can?” Cheen says to her, wide-eyed.

“What if you're wrong?” Milo adds.

Rose just gives him a stern look, hoping she is channeling the Doctor’s oncoming storm a little bit.

Milo swallows hard and flicks various switches overhead and on the console. The car goes dark and quiet. Outside, the noises lessen and finally stop. 

“They've stopped,” Cheen murmurs. 

“Yeah, but they're still out there,” Milo tells her.

“So what now?” Milo turns to Rose. “We've lost the aircon. If we don't switch the engines back on soon, we won't be able to breathe.”

“How long have we got?” Rose asks nervously.

“Eight minutes, maximum.”

For a long moment, the only sound in the car is Cheen crying softly.


	4. Chapter 4

 

The Doctor looks over at the other man who is staring in wide-eye horror at the creatures below.

“They are the Macra, ” he begins. “They used to be the scourge of this galaxy. Gas. They fed off gas, the filthier the better. They built up a small empire using humans as slaves and mining gas for food.”

“They don't exactly look like empire-builders to me.”

The Doctor shrugs a little, conceding that point. “Wellll, that was billions of years ago. Billions. They must've devolved down the years and now they're just beasts. But they're still hungry and my — Rose is down there.”

A noise over their heads causes both of them to look up. A pair of feet clad in dark tights and silver ballet flats appears.

“Oh, it's like New Times Square in here, for goodness's sake!” The man grumbles.

A cat woman dressed in a grey nun’s habit drops into the car with them. 

The Doctor is delighted. “I've invented a sport!”

“Doctor, you're a hard man to find,” the nun tells him. “You've got to come with me.”

The Doctor frowns at her. “Do I know you?”

She smiles and moves in front of him. “You haven't aged at all. Time has been less kind to me.”

“Novice Hame!” the Doctor exclaims happily and embraces her with a grin. Then a thought strikes him and he recoils. “No, hold on, get off. Last time we met, you were breeding humans for experimentation.”

Novice looks away sadly. “I've sought forgiveness, Doctor, for so many years, under his guidance. And if you come with me, I might finally be able to redeem myself.”

“I'm not going anywhere. You've got Macra living underneath this city. Macra! And Rose is stuck down there!”

“You've got to come with me right now!” Novice Hame insists.

“No, no, no -- you're coming with me!” he counters. “We've got three passengers now.”

She shakes her head sadly. “I'm sorry, Doctor. But the situation is even worse than you can imagine.” 

Before he argue further she grabs his wrist and presses a button her lighted wristband. 

“Don't you dare! Don't you dare!” the Doctor shouts at her. But in that instant they are covered in a flash of white light and vanish. 

In a large room filled with debris and lighted by filtered sunlight, the Doctor and Novice Hame reapear. 

The Doctor groans as he picks himself off the floor. “Oh! Rough teleport. Ow. But you can go straight back down and teleport people out, starting with _Rose_.”

“I only had the power for one trip.”

“Then get some more!” The Doctor demands. “Where are we?” 

“High above, in the over-city.”

“Good!” the Doctor rages. “ 'Cause you can tell the Senate of New New York I'd like a word. They've got thousands of people trapped on the motorway! Millions!”

“But you're inside the Senate, right now.” Novice Hame’s voice quivers. She touches her bracelet and the lights come on. “May the goddess Santori bless them.”

The light reveals a vast room with rows and rows of elevated seating rising up toward the high ceiling. They are standing on the Senate floor. Still seated in the chairs are dozens and dozens of skeletons.

Her voice dropped to a near whisper, “They died, Doctor. The city died.”

Despite his fears for Rose, the Doctor feels a morose calm come over him. “How long's it been like this?”

“Twenty-four years.”

The Doctor kneels beside a skeleton, anger subdued into sorrow. “All of them? Everyone? What happened?”

“A new chemical. A new mood. They called it Bliss.”

She kneels next to him and and pulls a small disk labeled "Bliss" from the skeleton. 

“Everyone tried it. They couldn't stop. A virus mutated inside the compound and became airborne. Everything perished — even the virus, in the end. It killed the world in seven minutes flat. There was just enough time to close down the walkways and the flyovers, sealing off the under-city. Those people on the motorway aren't lost, Doctor. They were _saved_.”

The Doctor jumps to his feet. “So the whole thing down there is running on automatic?”

“There's not enough power to get them out. We did all we could to stop the system from choking.”

“Who's 'we'? How did you survive?”

The Doctor turns as a deep rumbling voice calls his name. 

“I knew you would come,” the Face of Boe says.

“He protected me from the virus by shrouding me in his smoke,” Notice Hame explains. "But with no one to maintain it, the city's power died. The under-city would have fallen into the sea. The Face of Boe wired himself into the mainframe. He's giving his life force just to keep things running.”

“But there are planets out there. You could have called for help.”

She shakes her head. “The last act of the Senate was to declare New Earth unsafe. The automatic quarantine lasts for one hundred years.”

The Doctor looks at them both in amazement. “So the two of you stayed here — on your own, for all these years.”

“We had no choice,” Novice says mournfully.

The Doctor places a hand on her shoulder. “Yes, you did.”

@}-,-‘-

The three of them sit silently in the dark car. Milo and Cheen are lost in hopelessness and Rose is desperately wracking her brain for a solution. Oh, if only the Doctor.... She pushes the thought away.

“How much air’s left?” she asks instead.

“Two minutes.”

“The Doctor’s working on something right now. I’m sure of it. We just have to hold on until then.” 

“Rose, no one's coming. There’s no one out there.”

Rose feels a tinge of angry frustration. “ _He_ is. And he’ll never give up, so I won’t let the two of you.” 

Cheen gives her a shy smile. “He looked kind of nice.”

Rose finds herself grinning back in spite of herself. “Yeah, he is.”

“Are you and him … ?”

Rose drops her eyes shyly, nodding. 

“I never even asked. Where's home?”

Rose hesitates, a stab of sadness and longing shooting through her heart. “Home is wherever he is.”

“So, um, who is he, then? This Doctor?”

Rose looks from one to the other and sits up straighter. “He’s... He’s the Doctor. And he helps people. Even those that may not deserve it. And for a long time, he did it all on his own. You wouldn’t believe the things he’s done. Saved whole planets before tea time and on to the next. I may not know all that much about the universe, but I know _him._ You've got your faith; your songs and your hymns. But I've got the Doctor.”

Milo looks at her and nods. “Right.” 

He turns the car’s systems back online. As the lights come back on, he grips Cheen’s hand. Outside the crabs awaken and begin attacking. Milo sets the speed as fast as he can and tries to keep car Four Six Five Diamond Six dodging around them.

-‘-,-{@

The Doctor slides his specs on and stares at the screen. “Car Four Six Five Diamond Six — it still registers! That's Rose! I knew she’d find her way.”

He leaps away from the screen and begins chattering to himself rapidly as he works. “Okay Rose, just hang on a little longer. Think, think, think. Take the residual energy, invert it, feed it through the electricity beds.”

“There isn't enough power,” Novice Hame wails. 

The Doctor dashes back and forth. “Ah, you've got power! You've got me! I'm brilliant with computers, just you watch. Hame, every switch on that bank, up to maximum!” He moves to a control box on the floor aims his sonic at it and turns knobs. “I can't power up the city, but all the city needs is people.” He pounds on the console one last time for good measure and jumps up.

“So what are you going to do?”

“This!” he shouts and pulls a large lever. All the lights go out. “No, no no no no, no!” the Doctor wails, aiming his sonic at a junction box. “The transformers are blocked. The signal can't get through.”

“Doctor …” the Face of Boe calls.

“Hold on, not now,” the Doctor calls back in frustration.

The Face of Boe shuts his eyes and gasps, “I give you my last …”

Suddenly everything reactivates and power is flowing once more. 

The Doctor bounds across the room shouting, “Hame, look after him! Don't you go dying on me, you big old face. You've got to see this.” He pulls on the lever again. “The open road. Ha!”

@}-,-‘-

The people in the cars below start as a loud thud sounds overhead. Then the ceiling of the motorway opens and light spills into the cars highlighting every startled face. 

Far below, Car Four Six Five Diamond Six is still dodging and weaving around Macra claws. It narrowly misses getting crushed when a Macra causes one who catches hold to lose it’s grip.

-‘-,-{@

Inside, the Doctor’s face appears on the monitor. 

“Sorry, no Sally Calypso,” he says, “she was just a hologram. My name's the Doctor.”

Rose hoots in joy and surprise. It almost feels like that rocket ship pointed at a black hole all over again. “It’s him! I told you! It’s him!”

“And this is an order, “ the Doctor is saying. “Everyone drive up. Right now. I've opened the roof of the motorway. Come on. Throttle those engines. Drive up. All of you, the whole under-city. Drive up, drive up, drive up! Fast! We've got to clear that fast lane. Drive up and get out of the way.”

The cars begin to follow his instructions, streaming up and out of the motorway.

“Oi! Car Four Six Five Diamond Six! Rose!! Drive up!”

“Do it!” Rose yells over the noise. “Do as he says!”

“You've got access above! Now go!” the Doctor says.

At last, Milo steers the car away from the deadly claws and joins the crowd of exiting cars.

@}-,-‘-

In the Senate, the Doctor is watching everything from a monitor and smiles as Brannigan’s voice comes over the radio.

“Did I tell you, Doctor? You're not bad, Sir. You're not bad at all! Oh, yee-hah!”

“You keep driving, Brannigan, all the way up! 'Cause it's here, just waiting for you.” The Doctor carries his microphone over the the window to look out into the city. “The city of New New York. And it's yours. And don't forget — I want that coat back.”

“I reckon that's a fair bargain, Sir,” Brannigan answers.

“Car Four Six Five Diamond Six, I've sent you a flight path. Come to the Senate.”

Rose’s gleeful voice comes over the line, “On my way!”

“And about time, too! That was quite a lot of wandering off, Miss Tyler.”  
"You know me: jeopardy friendly."

He is abruptly interrupted in the midst of the happy exchange. 

“Doctor!” 

He whirls at the sound of Novice Hame’s anguished cry. The Face of Boe’s tank is cracking; fissures travel from the center in a network of spiderweb fractures. Novice Hame spreads her hands over the glass as if she can hold it together with shear force of will.

-‘-,-{@

Rose runs into the Senate building, anxious to throw her arms around the Doctor and not let go until it becomes absolutely necessary. She passes through the ornate halls of the building then, as she enters the Senate floor, she halts and takes in a gasping breath. All around her are skeletons. The room looks long abandoned. 

“Doctor?” she calls shakily

“Over here, Rose,” he says, closer than she might have thought. She turns a corner and finds him kneeling beside the Face of Boe who is lying in front of his shattered tank. He looks somehow smaller and so very weak. Rose freezes and her hand shoots up to cover her mouth in horror.

“Rose,” the Doctor says softly, holding out his hand to her. “It’s all right. Come here.”

She moves to his side and kneels also. 

“You remember Novice Hame.” He waves a hand toward the nun. 

Rose manages a thin smile. Novice Hame only gives her the smallest nod of recognition. The cat nun looks lost and devastated. Rose's heart goes out to her. 

“It was the Face of Boe,” the Doctor continues in that same soft voice. “He's the one that saved you, not me.”

“My lord gave his life to save the city,” Novice Hame murmured. “And now he's dying.”

“No, don't say that,” the Doctor protests. “Not old Boe. Plenty of life left.”

“It's good to breathe the air once more,” the Face of Boe says.

“It’s nice to see you again,” Rose says with false cheer. "Thanks for..." words suddenly seem inadequate. " _Thank you_."

“Legend says the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years," the Doctor says fiercely. "Isn't that right? And you're not about to give up now.”

“Everything has its time. You know that, old friend, better than most.”

"The legend says more," Novice Hame murmurs unexpectedly.

"Don't," the Doctor cautions her. "There's no need for that."

But she continues as if she hadn't heard him. "It says that the Face of Boe will speak his final secret to a traveller."

"Yeah, but not yet. Who needs secrets, eh?"

Rose moves closer to the Doctor, sliding her hand into his, tears starting to fill her eyes. But whether she is grieving for the Face of Boe or the Doctor, she cannot say.

"I have seen so much. Perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind — as you are the last of yours, Doctor."

"That's why we have to survive. Both of us. Don't go." The Doctor's words are low and urgent

"I must." The Face of Boe's voice weakens, "But know this, Time Lord. You... are not.... alone."

The Doctor stares, speechless and bewildered as the Face of Boe’s eyes close in death. Novice Hame begins to sob. 

Silent tears are wetting Rose's cheeks, but she doesn't move to brush them away. The Doctor half turns to her and pulls her tightly into his arms. How long they stay there, each wordless in their grief, they could never say.

@}-,-‘-

By the time Rose and the Doctor return to Pharmacy Town, night has fallen. She walks at his side, fingers threaded firmly through his lest there be any more would-be kidnappers lurking. The carts where the pharmacists were selling moods are standing open and abandoned.

“All closed down,” the Doctor comments.

“Happy, now?”

“Happy, happy,” he answers with a slightly cheeky grin.

Rose smiles.

“New New York can start again. And they've got Novice Hame. Just what every city needs –cats in charge!” He bumps her shoulder with his and she rolls her eyes.

“Over your dread of cats now?”

He glances up, tongue pressed to the roof of his mouth thoughtfully, “Could be, yeah. Come on, time we were off.” He begins to lead her toward the TARDIS but Rose holds him back.

“But what did he mean, the Face of Boe? ‘You are not alone.’”

“I don't know.”

“You've got me. Is that what he meant?”

He won’t meet her eyes. She cups his face with her hands and he can’t help but look at her.

“Talk to me. Tell me,” she implores softly, her brown eyes large and earnest.

“Oh, Rose,” he whispers. His hands lift to splay across her back of their own volition. 

A small sound trembles in the air around them. As it rises in volume, they realise it’s music. The people of New New York are singing again.

_Fast falls the eventide  
The darkness deepens  
Lord, with me abide  
When other helpers fail...._

“I told them, Cheen and Milo, I said: 'you have your faith and your hymns, but I don't need all that.'”

“No?”

Rose shakes her head. “No. I told them I had you.”

The Doctor’s eyes shut tightly and he crushes her into a hug. Where his cheek is pressed against hers she can feel a slight moisture.

“Ask,” he whispers in her ear.

Rose holds him a moment longer than moves away to retrieve a pair of chairs from a rubbish pile, setting them close together, facing each other. She pointedly seats herself on one of them and folds her arms. He hesitates only a second before seating himself on the other. He swallows and nods for her to begin.

“Do you think the Face of Boe meant another Time Lord?”

He shakes his head. “No. I told you before. I’d know. I'd feel it in here.” He taps his temple.

"What about someone from the past? They must still be knocking around. Maybe you could bump into some old friends sometime. Or... “ she pauses nervously, “family.” She almost fails to get that last word out.

“No.” He shakes his head again. “I - lied when I said we could visit Gallifrey in the past, Rose. The entire war is time-locked. My planet is at the center of that time-lock – past, present, and future. It's little more than myth now. Stories echoing back through time.”

Rose furls her brow but says nothing, silently willing him to continue. 

“Just... imagine what a time war _means_ , Rose. It's the ultimate paradox. We defeat the Daleks on this planet so they simply go back and change it. Then we go back farther and alter that. Then they do the same. On and on across time and space. Until time itself warps and trembles and breaks. The madness... the absolute madness...." He shakes himself out of the memory. "No. I had to stop it. I had to lock it away for _all time_. " 

At some point, they have twined both their hands together. Both drop their eyes to their joined fingers as Rose grips his tighter in a gesture that, for them, is almost more imitate than a kiss. For a moment, both are silent. 

"You have any other questions?”

“Gallifrey," she says, finding her voice at last. "So that’s what it was called? It’s beautiful.”

The Doctor sniffs. “Yeah, it was beautiful. Quite beautiful, actually. Oh, you should have seen it, Rose, that old planet. " His gaze turns inward and a look of wistful longing overtakes his face. "The second sun would rise in the south, and the mountains would shine. The leaves on the trees were silver, and when they caught the light every morning, it looked like a forest on fire. When the autumn came, the breeze would blow through the branches like a song.”

His eyes shining with unshed tears, the Doctor turns his gaze upon her. He moves his chair closer to hers. "Come here," he murmurs. "Let me show you." 

Rose swallows uncertainly and moves close to him, resting her head against his forehead as his fingers find her temples.

At all at once she is transported somewhere else. She is a small child running through fields of red grass. At her back she can feel the heat of the distant twin suns. She feels a giggle rising in her throat as she races down a hill, throwing herself into the resisting wind. A voice calls out to her and she turns her head. A little boy is running on the ridge of the hill. She increases her pace to outrun him. The boy's playful taunts cease as he dedicates himself to the race. Soon they are tearing through the fields at a reckless breakneck speed; running with the single minded abandon only a child can possess. 

They run beyond what she expects two small children to be capable of; the grass tangles their legs as they hop over a rivulet of water and through groves of shining, silver-leafed trees....

 

The vision winds to an end and she finds herself cradled in the Doctor's arms. His fingers have slid down from her temple to caress her face. Rose feels as though she has been asleep for hours, caught in the Doctor's dreams. And perhaps she has. 

She shifts a little in his arms so she can see his face. 

"Who was that boy?"

"Oh," he says a little dismissively, "just an old friend from long ago."

Then he is standing and pulling her up with him. He stretches, cat-like, a thought which Rose keeps to herself. 

"Blimey those chairs are miserable. I fancy a walk on a beach somewhere, what do you think?"

Rose blanches a little. "Yeah, not sure about beaches just yet."

The Doctor swallows hard and nods, "Wellll, maybe not a beach, yeah. But...." He leans over and gives her a mischievous grin. "To quote a very clever person, well brilliant really, if I do say so myself: 'there are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold.'" 

"Hmm, wonder who this clever person could be," Rose smirks.

The Doctor doesn't answer. But his hand finds hers.


End file.
